December 6

We heard the beginning of the movement last week that is Ezekiel 38 & 39. We hear the end of that development when God cleanses the earth of Gog; this enemy of God and God’s Chosen. Ezekiel 40 then starts the prophecy of the rebuilt Temple.  That part runs for nine chapters, so we will be reading about this rebuilt Temple for the remainder of the Prophetic Stream that ends December 27; four straight weeks of it.

39 – God is against Gog; this army / these soldiers are enemies of Israel who will come from the north.  They will have been joined by armies/enemies from the east who will all be incited to come against Israel.  Once they have reached Israel, however, God is going to knock them to the ground in defeat.  Ezekiel’s vision here is a vast army of Japheth’s descendants allied and hostile to Israel and determined to eradicate them. There are countries, nations, races, religions and religious sects on earth today who openly talk of doing this.  So we are seeing the process developing in the news. When they move on Israel, God is going to intervene in an overwhelming manner.  It will be a scale of death on a biblical proportion. Scavenging birds will descend and (pardon the visual) pick the bones clean. It will take Israel seven months to bury the dead and their weapons (which are burnable) will supply Israel with fuel for seven years. [FYI: High density compressed wood is being used today to make armaments!] Not only will these soldiers be massacred, but devastating calamity will break out back in all their home towns of origin. It basically is going to be the end of their cultures. Those alive today in the 21st century will likely witness this happen. God will restore Israel in a big way and the world will be in awe at the strong hand of God at work.

40 – Ezekiel is carried away in a vision. It is Passover; the springtime of 572 B.C. The Temple was destroyed 14 years prior. 19 years prior, Ezekiel had a related vision [Eze. 8:1,3] describing the coming doom of the Temple; and he saw this five years before it was leveled by Babylon. But here Ezekiel is describing a marvelous Temple, similar to Solomon’s in proportion though there are variations. There is debate as to the nature/era of this Temple. Some call it the Millennial Temple, others insist it’s literal, others dismiss it as figurative.  It’s smarter to not try to redescribe what God has brought to us through Ezekiel’s vision and simply be in awe of the fact that He is determined to reside in those who work with Him v.s. those who fight Him. So enjoy  the vision of this new Temple.  Until we understand it fully, know that His Temple is you and those you worship with on a regular basis. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.